Bringing in a first-year pro coach to support a first-time AHL head coach may be a bit of a risk, but I think Trent Cull will make it pay off for the Crunch.

First off, the guy is clearly well-respected. You don't get to be a major junior assistant at 30 and then an AHL assistant at 32 by accident. Cull made the most of his talents as a player and is obviously doing the same as a coach.

Secondly, the guy is tough. Not necessarily in a menacing way, but in a I'm-glad-he's-on-our-side way. He was a good middleweight fighter, and he set the right sort of example by playing through pain. He's the kind of guy you listen to not because you are afraid of him but because you are afraid of disappointing him.

Third, as an assistant, Cull takes over as the good cop, the players' leaning post. He seems to tell it like it is, but in a constructive way instead of a derisive tone. He is big on accountability and doesn't have much time for excuses. In post-game interviews he usually thought hard before offering an analysis and I never remember him scampering out early after a bad defeat.

The AHL is not only about developing players, it's about developing coaches, so we'll see. But I think Cull is someone who has future head coach written all over him.